Colorspace encoding multimedia data on a physical page

ABSTRACT

Techniques to improve storage of information, including encoding of multimedia data on physical pages. Some techniques include logic configured to encode multimedia data pursuant to a colorspace scheme and on a piece of paper. The logic may further be configured to generate one or more colorspaces associated with the multimedia data, perform colorspace conversions based on the generated colorspaces, and encode the multimedia data pursuant to the colorspace conversions. The logic may be further configured to apply one or both of an ultraviolet layer and an infrared layer to the physical page, e.g. paper, in order to further enhance security and provide an additional vehicle for storing and encoding data on the physical page, e.g. paper. The logic may further be configured to provide a scanning device with the ability to scan and decode the encoded data one the sheet of paper. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/393,919, entitled “COLORSPACE ENCODING MULTIMEDIA DATA ON A PHYSICALPAGE” filed on Apr. 24, 2019. The contents of the aforementionedapplication are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Since time immemorial, certain materials (e.g., paint, ink, and/or thelike) have been used to memorialize scenes and/or objects intosemi-permanent to permanent mediums. Computer technologies allow fordigitization and detections of these images embedded on these mediumsand have introduced image processing as a technical field. Detection ofimages and revealing information associated therewith constitutes atleast one aspect of image processing and have applications in a numberof cases.

It is with respect to these and other considerations that the presentimprovements have been needed.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some novel embodiments described herein. This summaryis not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identifykey/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude tothe more detailed description that is presented later.

One aspect of the present disclosure includes an apparatus for encodingmultimedia data on a physical page pursuant to one or more colorspaceschemes. The apparatus includes: The apparatus includes: a memory tostore instructions, processing circuitry, coupled with the memory,operable to execute the instructions, that when executed, cause theprocessing circuitry to: receive a multimedia dataset, compress thereceived multimedia dataset into a compressed data-packet, encode thecompressed data-packet according to a colorspace, wherein the encodingis suitable for printing on a physical medium, wherein the colorspace isassociated with a plurality of colors, and wherein the compresseddata-packet is represented by each of the plurality of colors, andinstruct a printing device to print the encoded data on the physicalmedium, wherein each of the plurality of colors representing thecompressed data-packet is printed on the physical medium.

Another aspect of the present disclosure includes an apparatus forencoding multimedia data on a physical page pursuant to one or morecolorspace schemes. The apparatus includes: a memory to storeinstructions and processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, operableto execute the instructions, that when executed, cause the processingcircuitry to: receive a multimedia dataset, where in various embodimentsthe multimedia set may include least one of i) one or more text data,ii) one or more picture data, and iii) one or more video data, compressthe received multimedia dataset into a compressed data-packet, encodethe compressed data-packet on one or more pages (e.g. a digitalrepresentation of material that can be subsequently printed by aprinting device) according to a colorspace, where the colorspace isassociated with a plurality of colors, and where the compresseddata-packet is represented by each of the plurality of colors, andinstruct a printing device to print the one or more pages on one or morephysical pages, where each of the plurality of colors representing thecompressed data-packet is printed on the one or more physical pages.

Another aspect of the present disclosure includes a method for scanninga page containing encoded multimedia data pursuant to one or morecolorspaces and/or decoding the multimedia data from the page. Themethod includes: scanning one or more physical pages containingcompressed data, where the compressed data is encoded on the one or morephysical pages pursuant to a colorspace, where the colorspace isassociated with a plurality of color-channels, where each one of theplurality of color-channels is associated with at least one color, andwhere the compressed data may represents a multimedia dataset, where invarious embodiments the multimedia dataset may include r at least one ofi) one or more text data, ii) one or more picture data, and iii) one ormore video data, and decoding the compressed data, where the decoding ispursuant to the colorspace.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure includes an article ofmanufacture that contains one or more pieces of paper with encodedmultimedia information thereon. The article of manufacture includes: asheet of paper, a plurality of colors printed on the sheet of paper andbased on a colorspace with six or more color-channels, each of the sixor more color-channels containing at least one distinct color inrelation to one another, and where each one of the at least one distinctcolors is represented in the plurality of color, and at least one of anultraviolet channel and an infrared channel represented and detectableby a pattern of ink on the sheet of paper, where the pattern of ink canabsorb or reflect at least one ultraviolet light and infrared light,where each one of the plurality of colors represents at least one bit ofdata of a compressed data-packet, where the compressed data-packetrepresents a multimedia dataset, where in various embodiments themultimedia dataset may include at least one of i) one or more text data,ii) one or more picture data, and iii) one or more video data, where theat least one of the ultraviolet channel and the infrared channelrepresents an error correcting code in relation to the compresseddata-packet, and where the sheet of paper contains at least oneadditional data representing the error correcting code.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure includes an article ofmanufacture that contains one or more pieces of paper with encodedmultimedia information thereon. The article of manufacture includes: asheet of paper, a plurality of colors printed on the sheet of paper andbased on a colorspace with six or more color-channels, each of the sixor more color-channels containing at least one distinct color inrelation to one another, and where each one of the at least one distinctcolors is represented in the plurality of color, and at least one of anultraviolet channel and an infrared channel represented and detectableby a pattern of ink on the sheet of paper, where the pattern of ink canabsorb or reflect at least one ultraviolet light and infrared light,where each one of the plurality of colors represents at least one bit ofdata of a compressed data-packet, where the compressed data-packetrepresents a multimedia dataset, where in various embodiments themultimedia dataset may include at least one of i) one or more text data,ii) one or more picture data, and iii) one or more video data, where theat least one of the ultraviolet channel and the infrared channelrepresents an error correcting code in relation to the compresseddata-packet, and where the sheet of paper may contain at least fiftymega-bytes of data in addition to data representing the error correctingcode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a system to encode multimediainformation or data onto one or more physical mediums, and to decode themultimedia information or data therefrom, in accordance with at leastone embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2A illustrates an embodiment of a clustering process for the systemof FIG. 1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2B illustrates an embodiment of a colorspace conversion techniqueuseful for encoding and/or decoding data, including by the system ofFIG. 1, and in accordance with at least one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a centralized system for the systemof FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of an operating environment for thesystem of FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a first logic flow for the system ofFIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a second logic flow for the systemof FIG. 1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a system for printing an encoded version ofmultimedia data or information in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a system for decoding an encoded version ofmultimedia data or information in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a computing architecture.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of a communications architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments are directed to securely storing multimediainformation, e.g. text, audio, video, and/or image data on one or morepages using one or more encoding, compression, and colorspace conversiontechniques. The various techniques and embodiments provide numerousadvantages, including providing a fail-safe for storing information on aphysical material, e.g. paper, outside of the electromagnetic spectrum,which can preserve the data securely in instances where the electroniccounterpart to the encoded data is inaccessible or destroyed, e.g. anelectrical failure or disaster that eliminates the electronically storedcounterpart to the data and/or a unique threat to electromagnetic datais imposed, such as an electro-magnetic pulse attack, thus making thestorage of the data in non-electromagnetic medium particularlypreferable. Although the information is stored on a physical mediumoutside of the electromagnetic spectrum, it can be scanned and accessedby a scanner at a subsequent time and processed by one or more computerdevices and/or components for future consumption.

In various embodiments, the multimedia information can be stored on oneor more pages, e.g. physical material such as paper pages, with orwithout applying a compression technique prior to encoding themultimedia information on physical material, such as a piece of paper orother suitable material. The encoding can be pursuant to a singlecolorspace technique, e.g. the information is encoded directly on theone or more pages based (e.g. a digital representation of the encodedinformation as digital pages is prepared and then printed by a printingdevice) on various color-channels associated with a single colorspace,where each color-channel represents a single bit of data (as representedby a defined area on the physical material). In various otherembodiments, multiple colorspace conversions can be employed to furtherenhance the security of the data and/or to assist with edge detectionwhen the data is ultimately decoded and extracted from the physicalmaterial, e.g. paper.

In various embodiments, eight or more color-channels can be associatedwith the colorspace to encode a total of eight or more bits of databased on a defined number of pixels printed on the page pursuant to thecolor-channels. In various embodiments, ultraviolet and/or infrared inkcan be used on the printed page, where the layer of ultraviolet printedink can represent one or more bits of data and/or the infrared printedink can represent one or more bits of data. In various embodiments,eight or more color-channels can be used with an ultraviolet layer andan infrared layer for a total of ten bits of total storage per aspecified area on the physical material and/or a reduced number ofcolor-channels can be used, e.g. six, with the ultraviolet layer and/orinfrared layer each representing a single bit of data, for a total ofeight bits of data.

In various embodiments, tangential information, such as page orientationinformation, metadata, page numbers, and/or party bits (Hamming code)can also be encoded in association with the one or more color-channelsand/or with respect to the ultraviolet layer and/or infrared layer. Invarious embodiments, in order to maximize the utility of the informationencoded by the color-channels and/or ultraviolet layer and/or infraredlayer, a luminance channel associated with the colorspace encodingscheme can also be used to encode the tangential data, e.g. metadata,page orientation information, and/or parity-check (Hamming Code), wherea larger defined area of the page may be defined by the luminancechannel, from the encoding and decoding perspective, in order tominimize errors associated with encoding and eventually scanning anddecoding information associated with brightness and/or luminancefeatures.

Various embodiments are also directed to improving image processing byidentifying which colorspace model is most appropriate to use for theencoding based on detection in a particular environment, e.g. to convertbetween colorspace(s) to improve detection within particularenvironments or in association with particular targets.

Colorspace models are configured to represent color data, but mostmodels differ in their representation of that color data. For instance,the CIELAB or LAB colorspace model represents color as three values: Lfor the Luminance/Lightness and Alpha (A) and Beta (B) for the green-redand blue-yellow color components, respectively. The LAB colorspace modelis typically used when converting from a Red-Green-Blue (RGB) colorspacemodel into Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black (CMYK).

Depending on the application, one colorspace may be preferable forrepresenting, printing and encoding, scanning and decoding, or storinginformation in relation to another colorspace, and in variousembodiments, converting between colorspaces can be advantageous. Invarious embodiments, whether information is converted to an initialcolorspace (e.g. represented by colors associated with color-channelsrepresenting bits of data), or whether information is initiallyconverted to an initial colorspace and then subsequent colorspaces, eachcolorspace conversion will be associated with a mathematical descriptionof the color-channels defining that colorspace, e.g. one or moreequations or values (such as a tristimulus system in RGB or XYZ), wherethose mathematical relationships can serve both as a means of encodingand decoding data. Accordingly, various embodiments will use one or morevariations of a theme of using at least one colorspace to encode anddecode data, including data of any kind, where in one or moreembodiments it can be multimedia data, e.g. video, audio, image, spatialdata (which can create three-dimensional renderings), etc.

With general reference to notations and nomenclature used herein, thedetailed descriptions which follow may be presented in terms of programprocedures executed on a computer or network of computers. Theseprocedural descriptions and representations are used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art.

A procedure is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistentsequence of operations leading to a desired result. These operations arethose requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually,though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical,magnetic or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred,combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient attimes, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to thesesignals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers,or the like. It should be noted, however, that all of these and similarterms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities andare merely convenient labels applied to those quantities.

Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms,such as adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mentaloperations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a humanoperator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of theoperations described herein which form part of one or more embodiments.Rather, the operations are machine operations. Useful machines forperforming operations of various embodiments include general purposedigital computers or similar devices.

Various embodiments also relate to apparatus or systems for performingthese operations. This apparatus may be specially constructed for therequired purpose or it may comprise a general-purpose computer asselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. The procedures presented herein are not inherently relatedto a particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purposemachines may be used with programs written in accordance with theteachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct morespecialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The requiredstructure for a variety of these machines may appear from thedescription given.

Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like reference numeralsare used to refer to like elements throughout. In the followingdescription, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details areset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It maybe evident, however, that the novel embodiments can be practiced withoutthese specific details. In other instances, well-known structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form to facilitate a descriptionthereof. The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives consistent with the claimed subject matter.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram for a system 100. Although the system100 shown in FIG. 1 has a limited number of elements in a certaintopology, it may be appreciated that the system 100 may include more orfewer elements in alternate topologies as desired for a givenimplementation. The system 100 may implement some or all of thestructure and/or operations for the system 100 in a single computingentity, such as entirely within a single device.

The system 100 may comprise an apparatus 120. The apparatus 120 may begenerally arranged to process input 110 using various components andgenerate output 130 of which (some) output 130 is displayed on a displaydevice or printed on a suitable material surface. The apparatus 120 maycomprise a processor or processing circuit 140 (referred to hereininterchangeably as a “processing circuit” or “processor”) and computermemory 150. The processing circuit 140 may be any type of logic circuitand the computer memory 150 may be a configuration of one or more memoryunits.

The apparatus 120 further includes logic 160 stored in the computermemory 150 and executed on the processing circuit 140. The logic 160 isoperative to cause the processing circuit 140 to represent, e.g. encode,the datasets 170 (which can be any kind of data), where, in one or moreembodiments, datasets 170 are multimedia datasets 170, e.g. video,audio, image, spatial data (which can create three-dimensionalrenderings), etc. as a patched image data 172, e.g. where the patchedimage data 172 is being configured in accordance with a colorspacemodel, and where the patched image data may define an area, e.g. apredefined number of pixels on a physical material, for encoding themultimedia data on the physical material. In various embodiments, theencoding of the encoded datasets 170 results in one or more encodeddata-packets that can then form the basis for printing a color-schemerepresenting the datasets 170 on one or more physical medium. Thecolorspace model as described herein refers to any suitable colorspacemodel, such as Red-Green-Blue (RGB), Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black (CMYK),Luminance-Alpha-Beta (LAB), XYZ, and/or the like, where each channel inthe model can represent a bit of data. For example, the Alpha and Betachannels of the LAB colorspace model refer to green-red and blue-yellowcolor components, respectively. The green-red component may represent avariance between red and green with green in the negative direction andred in the positive direction along an axis and the blue-yellowcomponent may represent a variance between blue and yellow with blue inthe negative direction and yellow in the positive direction along anaxis. In various embodiments, a predefined range of values associatedwith each color-channel may represent a first bit value, e.g. “1,” and asecond range of values may represent a second bit value, e.g. a “0,”from an encoding scheme perspective. As such, as the number ofcolor-channels is increased, the overall encoding capacity may increaseas well.

In various embodiments, the logic 160 is further operative to cause theprocessing circuit 140 to apply an encoding and colorspace transformmechanism 180 to the multimedia dataset 170, which, as stated, caninclude one or more sound data, video data, audio data, image data,spatial data (which can create three-dimensional renderings), etc., inorder to create an encoding scheme of patched image data 172representing the multimedia dataset 170, where the scheme may beprintable on a physical material, such as a piece of paper. The patchedimage data may include a plurality of patches of which each patchcomprises color data (e.g., pixel data where each pixel is representedas a tuple of Red-Green-Blue (RGB) color intensities, a tuple of XYZcolor intensities, a tuple pursuant to a LAB scheme, or any othersuitable color scheme). In various embodiments, and as alluded to aboveand below, a defined area of pixels will represent one or more bits ofdata, e.g. if a color associated with a color-channel exceeds a certainvalue in relation to the range of values of a color-channel, it then canbe a “1” and if it is below a certain threshold value in relation to therange of values of that color-channel then the value can be a “0.”

In various embodiments, a color-channel is a distribution of colors witha first color and second color of first and second highest prevalence,respectively, where the first color becomes a minimum in thecolor-channel and the second color becomes the maximum such that theboundary may be a transition between these colors. This boundary may beat least one pixel where the color changed from the first to the secondcolor or vice versa. If the first color is set to zero (0) and thesecond color is set to two hundred and fifty-five (255), then,mathematically, this boundary may be located at pixel(s) that jumpedbetween the minimum and maximum value; for example, there may be sharpdivision (i.e., thin boundary) in which at least two neighboring pixelstransition immediately between 0 and 255. In various embodiments, asalluded to above, a range of values within a color-channel mayconstitute a bit value of “1,” e.g. 128-255, and a range of valueswithin a color-channel may constitute a bit value of “0”, e.g. 0-127. Invarious embodiments, color-channels, e.g., “R,” “G,” and “B” define acolorspace such as RGB (e.g., a first colorspace based on a tristimulussystem), and in various embodiments custom color-channels can be createdusing a (second) tristimulus system associated with and defining an XYZ(second, e.g. converted-to, colorspace).

In various embodiments, the encoding can be based on multiple colorspaceconversions, where a second conversion may be done to enhanceedge-detection of the printed scheme on the paper (e.g. converting fromone colorspace to another in order to enhance detection based on a colorscheme of the environment that will be associated with the scan) and/oras an additional layer of security with respect to the encoding. Invarious embodiments, the color-channels may be greater than three, e.g.colors that are imperceptible to the human eye can be used provided asuitable printer, e.g. printing device 199, and a suitable scanner, e.g.197, are utilized to print and scan, respectively, the patched imagedata 172 corresponding to encoded scheme for the multimedia datasets 170(e.g. video data, audio data, image data, spatial data (which can createthree-dimensional renderings), etc.). Moreover, in various embodiments,in order to improve edge detection, as discussed herein, one or morecolor-channel ranges are selected such that a maximum color value of oneor more color-channel corresponds to a unique color value, mostprevalent color value, and/or highest color value of an environmentassociated with a scan and decoding of printed material corresponding toencoded multimedia data, such as the patched image data 172 printed on aphysical medium, e.g. physical tape, paper, and/or any other materialsuitable for printing ink or suitable substance thereon, and the minimumcolor value of the color-channel corresponds to a most unique color,most prevalent color value and/or highest color value of the printedmaterial, where additionally, the most prevalent value and/or highestcolor value of the printed material is also a least prevalent (lowestcolor value) and/or absent from the target object, entity, and/orenvironment associated with the scan, or visa-versa (e.g. with respectto the maximum or minimum values).

In various embodiments, as described herein, one colorspace model (e.g.XYZ) may correspond to a higher likelihood of success in edge detectionthan another colorspace model given a particular environment and/orphysical material used for the encoding scheme. Some images provideoptimal or near-optimal edge detection results when arranged in RGBwhile other images provide optimal or near-optimal edge detectionresults when arranged in LAB or an XYZ colorspace and vice versa.Accordingly, in various embodiments, the colorspace and associatedcolors selected for the encoding scheme of the multimedia dataset 170can be selected with optimization of detection and scanning in mind.

In various embodiments, the logic 160 is further operative to cause theprocessing circuit 140 to apply the colorspace transform and encodingmechanism 180 to the multimedia data 170 to generate the patched imagedata 172, and then instruct a suitable printing device, e.g. printingdevice 199, to print the patched image data 172 on a physical medium,such as a physical page, piece of paper, tape, or any other suitablemedium. In various embodiments, the logic is further operative to causethe processing circuit to instruct a scanning device, such as scanningdevice 197, to scan and decode the patched image data 172 to obtain themultimedia data 170. The encoding and decoding can be based on the keyor mathematical relationship defining the relevant colors andcolor-channels of the colorspace and associated with one or morecolorspace conversions. For example, if the colorspace scheme associatedwith the image is an XYZ colorspace, then one or more color-channels ofthe XYZ colorspace are defined by a tristimulus scheme, that includes atleast one chromacity value, e.g. “x”, and at least one luminance value,e.g. “y”:

x=X/(X+Y+Z),

y=Y/(X+Y+Z),

z=Z/(X+Y+Z).  Equation 1

This means that one or more color-channels are defined by the aboveequation and can be used to create one or more color-channels in the XYZcolorspace, including colors and color-channels imperceptible to thehuman eye.

In various embodiments, the encoding may be such that x, y, and z mayhave certain values that define the particular color-channels associatedwith the space, and pre-defined color range values within the channelmay determine whether the channel represents a “1” or a “0” value.Without knowing the initial x, y, and z values of the variouscolor-channels, decoding the encoded data may not be possible, and thisfeature can be amplified, in various embodiments, by having the printingdevice 199 print colors that are not associated with the color-channelsdefined by one or more iterations of Equation 1 or any other suitablecolorspace defining scheme. Accordingly, the equations governing theparticular colorspace, of which the above is one example and for onecolorspace conversion or conversions, provide the basis for encoding theimage data 172 onto a physical medium, and also the basis for decodingthe multimedia data 170 from the image data 172, as the suitablescanner, e.g. scanning device 197, can be configured to decode theinformation by having access to the mathematical relationship or key,e.g. Equation 1, defining the colorspace.

In various embodiments, prior to performing any encoding operation, acompression mechanism can apply any suitable compression technique tothe multimedia data 170 to reduce its size and increase the amount ofdata that can be represented and/or encoded as a result of theconversion associated with patched image data 172. Any suitablecompression technique can be applied to the multimedia data 170 prior tothe conversion, e.g. any suitable compression per an MPEG® scheme (suchas H.264), VPEG® scheme, or any other suitable scheme can be used. Invarious embodiments, application of a compression technique to thecompressed data results in one or more compressed data-packets andapplication of an encoding scheme to the compressed data-packets (asdiscussed herein) results in an encoded version of the compresseddata-packets, e.g. encoded data-packets of the compressed data-packets.

In various embodiments, and as discussed in more detail with respect toone or more embodiments provided below, if the initial or subsequent (ininstances where multiple colorspaces and conversions thereto ortherefrom are used) colorspace has a luminance factor, such as an XYZcolorspace, the luminance factor can be temporarily filtered out whendetermining the various chromacity values desired for use with the imagedata 172.

In various embodiments, the luminance factor, e.g. “y” of Equation 1,can be reintroduced (or used from the outset if it was never filteredout), to define tangential information related to the multimedia data170, such as metadata, an error correcting code, e.g. Hamming code,and/or page orientation information. Accordingly, in variousembodiments, logic 160 may be further operative to cause the processingcircuit 140 to cause the image dataset 172 to associate particular datadistinct from the dataset 172 in relation to the luminance value of acolorspace and for a defined area; and as such, instruct the printingdevice to define an area with a factor of magnitude larger than theencoded data area defined by pixels associated with the image data forthe purpose of having encoding luminance channel information. In variousembodiments, the area defining the luminance value is a factor ofmagnitude larger than an area with just pixels carrying the encodedcolor scheme because of the higher error rate associated with scanninginformation associated with brightness values. Irrespective of the sizeof the area defined by the encoded luminance value, a range ofbrightness values correspond to a “1” bit value (brightness higher thanor equal to a certain value) and a range of values correspond to a “0”bit value (brightness less than a certain value).

In various embodiments, the patched image data 172 can provide for ascheme that includes at least one infrared layer and at least oneultraviolet layer, in addition to colors associated with one or morecolor-channels. In various embodiments, the logic may be furtheroperated to cause the processing circuitry 140 to instruct a printingdevice, e.g. printing device 199, to print the patched image data 172 ona physical medium, such as a physical page, a piece of paper, physicaltape, or any other suitable medium with one or more inks reflecting oneof or both of the ultraviolet light and infrared light on top, and inksassociated with one or more color-channels below. In variousembodiments, the ultraviolet layer is on top of both the infrared layersand the color-channel layers. In various embodiments, the presence orabsence of ultraviolet layer constitutes a bit of data, e.g. a value of“1” if ultraviolet light is reflected and a value of “0” if it isabsorbed or otherwise not reflected, and the presence or absence of aninfrared layers constitutes a bit of data, e.g. a value of “1” ifultraviolet light is reflected and a value of “0” if it is absorbed orotherwise not reflected. In various embodiments, as discussed below, adetection and decoding technique 190 can be configured to consider thepresence or absence of ultraviolet and/or infrared light as indicativeof a bit of data.

In various embodiments, once encoding (and if applicable, compression)takes place, the logic 160 may be further operative to cause theprocessing circuit 140 to scan the physical medium containing thepatched image data, e.g. using a suitable scanning device 197, apply andetection and decoding technique 190 to the patched image data 172 (asrepresented on a suitable physical medium, such as paper) and to decodethe multimedia data 170 as represented by the patched image data 172.The edge detection technique of the detection and decoding technique 190is an image processing technique that refers to any one of a number ofalgorithms for identifying edges or boundaries of objects within images.In general, the edge detection technique of the detection and decodingtechnique 190 provides information (e.g., pixel data) indicatingpositions of edges in the image data of the image datasets 170; and invarious embodiments, the decoding scheme of the detection and decodingscheme 190 determines what color-channels contain relevant informationbased on the mathematical relationships defining the colorspace orcolorspaces associated with the patched image data 172, and may alsodetermine the bit value of those color-channels based on the colorvalues associated therewith, e.g. the value of a particular color in therange of values associated with a particular color-channel.

Accordingly, in various embodiments, the multimedia dataset 170 asencoded into an encoded data-packet on one or more physical mediums,including pieces of paper, and pursuant to one or more colorspaceconversions and/or utilizing one or more ultraviolet and infraredlayers, and as may be associated with patched image data 172, may bedecoded by one or more components of system 100 pursuant to a keydefining the one or more colorspaces associated with encoding. Invarious embodiments, when compression is done prior to encoding, theencoded data-packet may be decompressed prior to the decoding using anysuitable decompression technique that serves as a counterpart to theencoding.

Some implementations of the edge detection technique of the detectionand decoding technique 190 operate by detecting discontinuities inbrightness and, for those implementations, having the image data, e.g.patched image data 172, in a LAB colorspace, or XYZ colorspace over RGBprovides more precise edge detection results. Some implementations ofthe edge detection technique of the detection and decoding technique 190provide accurate edge detection results when the image data is modeledaccording to HCL (Hue-Chroma-Luminance) instead of RGB and/or, as statedabove and below, when converting from RGB to another colorspace, such asXYZ.

In various embodiments, the logic 160 is further operative to cause theprocessing circuit 140 to identify which colorspace model to use intransforming a given image prior to edge detection to achievenear-optimal edge detection results, e.g. optimizing the patched imagedata 172 for detection. The logic 160 is further configured to cause theprocessing circuit 140 to apply the colorspace and encoding transformmechanism 182 to transform the image data 172 from one colorspacecontaining the encoded version of the multimedia data 170, e.g. part ofimage dataset 172, into transformed image data in accordance withanother colorspace model (e.g. XYZ), e.g. another part of image dataset172, where the other or second colorspace model has a higher likelihoodthan the first colorspace model at edge detection for the final encodedimage group. It is appreciated that the other colorspace model may beany colorspace model including those with a different number of channelsthan the colorspace model.

In various embodiments, the logic 160 can be further operative to causethe processing circuit 140 to apply the colorspace and encodingtransform mechanism 182 to determine a colorspace that is optimal fordetection in association with a particular environment where a scan ofthe printed version of the patched image dataset 172 takes place. Invarious embodiments, a colorspace or histogram representation of theenvironment can be part of the image datasets 170. The logic 160 can befurther operative to cause the processing circuit 140 to determine theoptimal colorspace based on one or more colorspace conversion operations(where on example is provided in greater detail with reference to FIG.2B). In various embodiments, a printed scheme according to one or morecolorspaces may be provided for the patched image dataset 172 withoutfirst considering the colors of the environment where the scan may takeplace, in which case, the colorspace representation and associatedcolors of the environment where the scan takes place can be adjusted inrelation to the printed patched image data 172 to optimize edgedetection.

The one or more colorspace models as described herein, as stated andimplied elsewhere herein, refers to any suitable colorspace model, suchas colorspace employing a tristimulus system or scheme, theRed-Green-Blue (RGB), the Luminance-Alpha-Beta (LAB), an XYZ colorspace,and/or the like and/or variations of the same. Similarly, althoughvarious embodiments may refer to a particular conversion from onespecific colorspace to another specific colorspace, conversions betweenother colorspaces are contemplated and consistent with the teachings ofthe present disclosure.

In various embodiments, as described herein, one colorspace model (e.g.,RGB or XYZ) may correspond to a higher likelihood of success in edgedetection than another colorspace model in terms of detection of adisplayed or printed image, e.g. an encoded representation of multimediadata 170 in the form of patched image data 172, in relation to anenvironment with a particular color distribution. Moreover, particularcolors and color-channels associated with a colorspace may offersuperior edge detection in relation to the object, entity, orenvironment. Some images provide optimal or near-optimal edge detectionresults when arranged in RGB while other images provide optimal ornear-optimal edge detection results when arranged in XYZ or LAB and viceversa. By way of example, an image depicting a red balloon on a greenfield may appear much different in RGB than in LAB; therefore, withrespect to edge detection, LAB may provide a higher likelihood than RGBat successfully identifying and locating edges (e.g., boundaries) of thered balloon, or a printed encoded multimedia scheme, e.g. as representedby patched image data 172, that had a red color in the greenenvironment.

In various embodiments, the system 100 can include one or more of acamera or video device 195, where both device 195 and device 197 can beany suitable device for obtaining, capturing, editing, and/or scanningimages, including but not limited to video or camera pictures, ofobjects, entities, and/or environments. The logic 160 can be configuredto capture or scan images of a particular object, entity or environmentusing device 195 and/or device 197, where the captured images can becomepart of image datasets 172 and used for determining suitablecolorspaces, performing colorspace conversions, and/or scanning imagesdetermined from colorspace conversions, as may be consistent with theteachings provided herein, including selecting an optimal colorspace foran encoded multimedia scheme and/or an environment associated with thescanning thereof.

FIG. 2A illustrates an embodiment of a clustering process 200A for thesystem 100. The clustering process 200A operates on image datasets(e.g., the multimedia datasets 170 and/or image datasets 172 of FIG. 1)storing color data for images.

In some embodiments of the clustering process 200A, color data 202 of animage undergoes a patching operation where the image is processed into aplurality of patches 204 of patched image data 206. Each patch 204 ofthe patched image data 206 includes color data in accordance with acolorspace model, such as pixel data having RGB tuples, where the pixelmay represent an encoded representation of multimedia data. Theclustering process 200A further processes the patched image data 206,via a transformation operation 208, by applying a colorspace transformmechanism on the color data of the patched image data 206 to transformpatched image data into transformed image data of a transformed image210, where the transformed image may also represent an encodedrepresentation of multimedia data. The color data of the patched imagedata 206 is configured in accordance with the colorspace model and newcolor data for the transformed image 210 is generated according toanother colorspace model.

In some embodiments, the clustering process 200A performs amini-colorspace transform for at least one patch of the patched imagedata 206, possibly leaving one or more patches without a transformation.Via the transformation operation 208, the mini-colorspace transformmodifies the color data in the at least one patch to transform patchedimage data into transformed image data of a transformed image 210. Theclustering process 200A may perform stitching between patches to makethe patched image data 206 uniform as opposed to creating artificialedges.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example of a colorspace conversion scheme 200B inaccordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Ahistogram 218 representation of a particular environment 215 is provided(where the numbers 100, 90, 80, and 70 are intended to represent asimplified version of colors distribution values of one or more colorsrepresenting the particular object, entity, or environment 215), wherethe environment 215 may be associated with a scan of printable materialrepresenting encoded data of any kind, where in various embodiments thedata is multimedia data (e.g. video data, audio data, image data,spatial data (which can create three-dimensional renderings), etc.). Thehistogram 218 can be generated by having one or more components ofsystem 100 performing a scan of the environment 215 and generating ahistogram 218 of the most prevalent colors, least prevalent colors, orabsent colors of the environment 215. In one or more embodiments, thehistogram 218 can be of four, six, eight or more colors of the mostprevalent colors of the object, entity, or environment. Since variousembodiments of the present disclosure expressly contemplate using colorsimperceptible to the human eye, there is no limitation on the number ofcolors that can be used with respect to the histogram 218, thecolorspace conversions discussed herein, or any images generated fromthe colorspace conversions, including but not limited to image dataproviding an encoded representation of multimedia data (e.g. video data,audio data, image data, spatial data (which can create three-dimensionalrenderings), etc.), and can have in excess of four colors, six color, oreight colors, and four color-channels, six color-channels, or eightcolor-channels, where the colors and/or color-channels are distinct anddifferent with respect to one another.

In various embodiments, one or more components of system 100 candetermine the most prevalent colors associated with environment 215, andthe resulting histogram 218 may be based on that determination. Thehistogram 218 can be used to map the most prevalent colors to adistribution 222 associated with a suitable colorspace 224, includingbut not limited to an RGB colorspace 224. In various embodiments, thecolors of histogram 218 are mapped pursuant to the tristimulus values ofthe RGB colorspace, e.g., “R,” “G,” and “B.” Any suitable mathematicalconversion, e.g., linear-algebraic, etc. can be used to map theconversion to the RGB colorspace, e.g., convert the mapped RGBcolorspace to another colorspace.

In various embodiments, the color-channels of distribution 222 mayrepresent one or more bits of data for an encoded representation ofdata, e.g. multimedia data, where the multimedia data may be compressedor un-compressed.

In various embodiments, once the distribution 222 is mapped according tothe RGB colorspace 224, one or more components of system 100 can convertthe RGB distribution 222 to a new colorspace 226 with a distribution 228pursuant to the new colorspace 226. Any suitable colorspace conversioncan be used, including converting to an XYZ colorspace, where theconversion can be pursuant to any suitable mathematical conversions andequations that govern the XYZ colorspace, including suitable tristimulusconversions between RGB and XYZ. In various embodiments, “Y” representsa luminance value of the XYZ space and at least one of “X” and “Z” (orboth) represent a chrominance value of the colorspace and an associateddistribution, e.g. 226 plotted pursuant to the XYZ colorspace.

In various embodiments, the color-channels of new colorspace 226 mayrepresent one or more bits of data for an encoded representation ofdata, e.g. multimedia data, where the multimedia data may be compressedor uncompressed. In various embodiments, the encoding is limited to thesecond conversion, e.g. only the color-channels of new colorspace 226provide for an encoded representation of multimedia data. In variousembodiments, both the color-channels of colorspace 224 and colorspace226 provide for an encoded representation of multimedia data, whethercompressed or uncompressed, thus providing for multi-level encryption.

In various embodiments, the luminance channel “Y” is filtered outresulting in colorspace 228′ and distribution 226′, which can assist inmaking determinations solely on actual chromatic values associated withthe entity, object, or environment 215, without considering luminance(this is helpful at least because colors can be used that areimperceptible to the human eye). In various embodiments, four (or more)lines can be defined by points (a1, b1), (a2, b2), (a3, b3), and (a4,b4), and are selected to have a maximum distance apart with respect todistribution 226′. In various embodiments, the points a1, a2, a3, and a4are selected to correspond to the most prevalent colors associated withentity, object, or environment 215 and b1, b2, b3, and b4 by extension,being opposite to those colors, may represent the least prevalent orabsent colors in association with entity, object, or environment b1, b2,b3, b4. These lines may define vectors for a new colorspace conversionin an XYZ or other suitable colorspace 245 and may form the basis fornew XYZ tristimulus values.

An image or image set, such as the patched image data 172 representingencoded data, e.g. multimedia data (e.g. video data, audio data, imagedata, spatial data (which can create three-dimensional renderings),etc.), as discussed above, can be made using colors associated with thenew colorspace 250 and a distribution 245 of colors defined bycolor-channel vectors (i,−i), (j, −j), (k, −k), an additionalcolor-channel and all other color-channels (omitted from display due tothe limitations of three-dimensional space) associated therewith. Invarious embodiments, since the colors may correspond to less prevalentor absent colors in relation to where a potential scan may occur (orwhat is being scanned), e.g., printed material corresponding to encodedmultimedia data in an environment with colors that have a maximumdifference in relation thereto, edge detection is enhanced.

Alternatively, although not expressly shown, the maximum distance fromthe most prevalent colors to least prevalent colors can be determined,e.g., a1 to b1, a2 to b2, etc., and then lines can be drawn from b1, b2,b3, and b4 in a direction tangential, parallel or opposite a vector ordirection associated with a1, a2, a3, and a4. The color-channel vectors(i,−i), (j, −j), (k, −k), an additional color-channel and all othercolor-channels (omitted from display due to the limitations ofthree-dimensional space) associated with colorspace 250 may be entirelycolors absent and/or mildly prevalent in relation to entity, object, orenvironment 215, which can further enhance edge detection.

In various embodiments, the color-channels of new colorspace 250 mayrepresent one or more bits of data for an encoded representation ofdata, such as multimedia data (e.g. video data, audio data, image data,spatial data (which can create three-dimensional renderings), etc.),where the multimedia data may be compressed or uncompressed. In variousembodiments, the encoding is limited to the conversion associated withnew colorspace 250, e.g. only the color-channels of new colorspace 226provide for an encoded representation of multimedia data. In variousembodiments, more than one of the color-channels of colorspace 224,colorspace 226, colorspace 228′, and/or colorspace provide for anencoded representation of multimedia data, whether compressed oruncompressed, thus providing for multi-level encryption.

In various embodiments, whether luminance channel “Y” is filtered out orwhether it remains unfiltered throughout one or more colorspaceconversions, it may be used to provide an encoded representation oftangential information in relation to the encoded multimedia data, suchas page orientation information, metadata, page numbers, and/or partybits (Hamming code). In various embodiments, where the luminance channel“Y” is filtered out in relation to colorspace 228′, it can bereintroduced at any subsequent conversion when chromacity values havebeen determined, such as with respect to new colorspace 250, in order toprovide for the luminance encoding feature in association withtangential information.

In various embodiments, when performing the colorspace conversionbetween 228′ and 250, in addition to carrying out the algebraic or othersuitable conversions associated with the XYZ colorspace, thecolor-channel vectors, e.g. (i,−i), (j, −j), (k, −k), may be orthogonalto one another by performing any suitable mathematical and/ororientation operation on the vectors and/or by selecting suitable pointson distribution 226′ and distribution 228′ when making the conversion.In various embodiments, a second maximum difference between one or morepoints can be taken in colorspace 250, in addition to an orientationoperation to center the distribution 245 along the axis of the newlydefined color-channel vectors, e.g. (i,−i), (j, −j), (k, −k), such thatthe color-channel vectors are orthogonal and have a maximum distance inrelation to one another. In various embodiments, performing at least oneof the orthogonality operation, maximum determination, and/or orientingoperation can further enhance edge detection of an image generated forscanning, such as an encoded multimedia scheme printed on a physicalmedium, in relation to an entity, object, or environment 215 to bescanned.

In various embodiments, the various color-channels described above,including each vector, e.g. (−i, i), defines a first color that is aminimum in the color-channel and the second color becomes the maximum,such that the boundary may be a transition between these colors. Thisboundary may be at least one pixel where the color changed from thefirst to the second color or vice versa. If the first color is set tozero (0) and the second color is set to two hundred and fifty-five(255), then, mathematically, this boundary may be located at pixel(s)that jumped between the minimum and maximum value; for example, theremay be sharp division (i.e., thin boundary) in which at least twoneighboring pixels transition immediately between 0 and 255. In variousembodiments, the boundary is such it may be a transition between thesecolors where, as discussed above, one or more color-channel ranges areselected such that a maximum color value of one or more color-channelcorresponds to a unique color value, most prevalent color value, and/orhighest color value of a target object, entity, and/or environmentassociated with a scan and the minimum color value of the color-channelcorresponds to a most unique color, most prevalent color value and/orhighest color value of the printed scheme corresponding to printedencoded data, e.g. multimedia data (e.g. video data, audio data, imagedata, spatial data (which can create three-dimensional renderings),etc.), where additionally, the most prevalent value and/or highest colorvalue of the printed encoded multimedia data is also a least prevalent(lowest color value) and/or absent from the target object, entity,and/or environment associated with a scan of the printed material, orvisa-versa (e.g. with respect to the maximum or minimum values).

The length of the color-channel can be adjusted accordingly based on thecapabilities of the scanning and image-acquiring abilities of thevarious components, e.g. camera or video device 195, scanning device197, and/or recognition component 422-4 (discussed below with respect toFIG. 4), where the length increases the number of different colorsbetween the minimum and maximum point of the color-channel.

In various embodiments, the conversions between the RGB colorspace tothe XYZ colorspace and/or a first converted-to (derivative) XYZ space toanother XYZ colorspace can be governed by the tristimulus equations(Equation 1) that define the converted colorspace and a distribution ofcolorspace, where the value of x+y=z can be normalized to 1.

In various embodiments, the value of “X,” “Y,” and “Z,” is dependent onthe input colors from the RGB colorspace (or in the case of a secondconversion, from the converting colorspace). Although the tristimulusvalues are three be definition, as noted above, the conversion caninvolve more than three color-channels, including color-channels thatdefine colors imperceptible to the human eye. In various embodiments,the conversion governed by Equation. 1 can form a key for a scanningdevice to scan an image defined by the conversion, such as an encodeddata, e.g. multimedia data scheme (e.g. video data, audio data, imagedata, spatial data (which can create three-dimensional renderings),etc.) printed on a physical medium. In various embodiments, this meansthat in addition to providing a vehicle for increasing the numbers ofcolor-channels and colors for an image to be scanned, which meansincreasing bits of information that can be encoded therein, anotherbenefit of various embodiments is offering a manner to securely encodeinformation, e.g. without knowing the equation or equations of whatcolorspace govern and without knowing the input values (which are basedon the first colorspace associated with the entity, object, orenvironment 215), a successful scan cannot occur. Accordingly, invarious embodiments, the logic 160 of system 100 can cause a processor140 (or an application programmed to carried out the operations of 100)to provide a scanning device 197 with a key governed by Equation 1 inorder to scan and decode an image, e.g. printed material correspondingto encoded multimedia data (e.g. video data, audio data, image data,spatial data (which can create three-dimensional renderings), etc.) thatis encoded pursuant to one or more colorspace conversions associatedwith Equation 1.

In various embodiments, the logic 160 of system 100 can cause aprocessor 140 to provide a scheme for adding either one or both of anultraviolet layer and/or an infrared layer to a scheme defining encodeddata, e.g. multimedia data (e.g. video data, audio data, image data,spatial data (which can create three-dimensional renderings), etc.), andinstruct a printing device 199 to print the same, where the printedencoded multimedia data contains more than one non-black or non-whitecolors governed by any suitable colorspace, and can be scanned anddecoded by a suitable scanning device, e.g. scanning device 197. Invarious embodiments, the scheme may include both an ultraviolet layerand an infrared layer, where the ultraviolet layer may form the firstlayer of an image in order to take advantage of its properties. Invarious embodiments, the non-black and non-white colors of the printedscheme corresponding to encoded multimedia data may be determined by oneor more colorspace conversion techniques as outlined herein. In variousembodiments, non-black and non-white colors means colors that are notblack or white. In various embodiments, non-black and non-white colorsmeans colors that are not black, white or based on a greyscaledistribution.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a distributed system 300. Thedistributed system 300 may distribute portions of the structure and/oroperations for the system 100 across multiple computing entities.Examples of distributed system 300 may include without limitation aclient-server architecture, a 3-tier architecture, an N-tierarchitecture, a tightly-coupled or clustered architecture, apeer-to-peer architecture, a master-slave architecture, a shareddatabase architecture, and other types of distributed systems. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

The distributed system 300 may comprise a client device 310 and a serverdevice 320. In general, the client device 310 and/or the server device320 may be the same or similar to the apparatus 120 as described withreference to FIG. 1. For instance, the client device 310 and the serverdevice 320 may each comprise a processing component 330 which is thesame or similar to the processing circuit 140 as described withreference to FIG. 1. In another example, the devices 310, 320 maycommunicate over a communications media 312 using communications signals314 via a communications component 340.

The server device 320 may communicate with other devices over thecommunications media 312, using communications signals 314, via thecommunications component 340. The other devices may be internal orexternal to the device 320 as desired for a given implementation.

The client device 310 may comprise or employ one or more client programsthat operate to perform various methodologies in accordance with thedescribed embodiments. In one embodiment, for example, the client device310 may implement the system 100 including the logic 160 of FIG. 1,where in various embodiments, the client device 310 can implement one ormore operations to form an image based on one or more colorspaceconversions as outlined above and herein.

The server device 320 may comprise or employ one or more server programsthat operate to perform various methodologies in accordance with thedescribed embodiments. In one embodiment, for example, the server device320 may implement the clustering process 200A of FIG. 2A and generateimage group model data 350 and/or generate image group model data 350 byperforming one or more of the encoding and colorspace conversionoperations of scheme 200B. The image group model data 350 can include aprinting scheme or color distribution for an image corresponding toencoded data, e.g. multimedia data (e.g. video data, audio data, imagedata, spatial data (which can create three-dimensional renderings),etc.), e.g. patched image data 172, to be printed and/or scanned inassociation with an environment 215.

The devices 310,320 may comprise any electronic device capable ofreceiving, processing, and sending information for the system 100.Examples of an electronic device may include without limitation anultra-mobile device, a mobile device, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a mobile computing device, a smart phone, a telephone, a digitaltelephone, a cellular telephone, ebook readers, a handset, a one-waypager, a two-way pager, a messaging device, a computer, a personalcomputer (PC), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebookcomputer, a netbook computer, a handheld computer, a tablet computer, aserver, a server array or server farm, a web server, a network server,an Internet server, a work station, a mini-computer, a main framecomputer, a supercomputer, a network appliance, a web appliance, adistributed computing system, multiprocessor systems, processor-basedsystems, consumer electronics, programmable consumer electronics, gamedevices, television, digital television, set top box, wireless accesspoint, base station, subscriber station, mobile subscriber center, radionetwork controller, router, hub, gateway, bridge, switch, machine, orcombination thereof. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

The devices 310, 320 may execute instructions, processing operations, orlogic for the system 100 using the processing component 330. Theprocessing component 330 may comprise various hardware elements,software elements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardwareelements may include devices, logic devices, components, processors,microprocessors, circuits, processing circuits, circuit elements (e.g.,transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integratedcircuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmablelogic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmablegate array (FPGA), Application-specific Standard Products (ASSPs),System-on-a-chip systems (SOCs), Complex Programmable Logic Devices(CPLDs), memory units, logic gates, registers, semiconductor device,chips, microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of softwareelements may include software components, programs, applications,computer programs, application programs, system programs, softwaredevelopment programs, machine programs, operating system software,middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines,functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces, application programinterfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code, computer code, codesegments, computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or anycombination thereof. Determining whether an embodiment is implementedusing hardware elements and/or software elements may vary in accordancewith any number of factors, such as desired computational rate, powerlevels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input data rates,output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and other design orperformance constraints, as desired for a given implementation.

The devices 310, 320 may execute communications operations or logic forthe system 100 using communications component 340. The communicationscomponent 340 may implement any well-known communications techniques andprotocols, such as techniques suitable for use with packet-switchednetworks (e.g., public networks such as the Internet, private networkssuch as an enterprise intranet, and so forth), circuit-switched networks(e.g., the public switched telephone network), or a combination ofpacket-switched networks and circuit-switched networks (with suitablegateways and translators). The communications component 340 may includevarious types of standard communication elements, such as one or morecommunications interfaces, network interfaces, network interface cards(NIC), radios, wireless transmitters/receivers (transceivers), wiredand/or wireless communication media, physical connectors, and so forth.By way of example, and not limitation, communication media 312 includewired communications media and wireless communications media. Examplesof wired communications media may include a wire, cable, metal leads,printed circuit boards (PCB), backplanes, switch fabrics, semiconductormaterial, twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable, fiber optics, a propagatedsignal, and so forth. Examples of wireless communications media mayinclude acoustic, radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, infrared and otherwireless media.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of an operational environment 400 forthe system 100. As shown in FIG. 4, the operating environment 400includes an application 420, such as an enterprise software application,for processing input 410 and generating output 430.

The application 420 comprises one or more components 422-a where arepresents any integer number. In one embodiment, the application 420may comprise an interface component 422-1, a clustering component 422-2,a transform mechanism library 422-3, and a recognition component 422-4.The interface component 422-1 may be generally arranged to manage a userinterface for the application 420, for example, by generating graphicaldata for presentation as a Graphical User Interface (GUI). The interfacecomponent 422-1 may generate the GUI to depict various elements, such asdialog boxes, HTML forms having rich text, and/or the like.

The clustering component 422-2 may be generally arranged to organizeimages into image groups or clusters. Some embodiments of the clusteringcomponent 422-2 execute the clustering process 200A of FIG. 2A and/orone or more of the encoding, colorspace conversion operations, and/ordecoding operations associated with scheme 200B of FIG. 2B and generatesthe image group model data 350 of FIG. 3. In various embodiments, theclustering component 422-2 identifies, for each image group, aparticular colorspace transform having a higher likelihood than acurrent colorspace transform of success in edge detection for that groupas outlined herein or otherwise suitable and uses that scheme to encodemultimedia data on one or more physical medium, such as a piece ofpaper, and using any suitable printing device. In various embodiments,the clustering component 422-2 may perform the above-mentionedclustering process for a variety of edge detection techniques, resultingin sets of image groups where each set of image groups corresponds to aparticular technique. Edge detection techniques vary in how boundariesare identified in an image; some techniques detect differences in colorwhereas other techniques measure another attribute. Some techniquesdiffer with respect to how color differences are even measured. It ispossible for one technique to alter certain steps and create multipletechniques.

The colorspace transform library 422-3 includes a plurality ofcolorspace transform mechanisms and may be generally arranged to providean encoding and colorspace transform mechanism for application on animage, transforming that image into a transformed image in accordancewith a different colorspace model than the image's original colorspacemodel, resulting in encoded data that is optimal for detection, e.g.encoded multimedia data optimal for detection on a physical medium, suchas paper.

As described herein, the colorspace model refers to a technique formodeling an image's color data, such as in RGB or in LAB, or RGB to XYZ,or RGB to XYZ to another XYZ. In general, and as outlined in one or moreembodiments herein, the colorspace transform mechanism performsmathematical operations to map a data point within the image'soriginal/current colorspace model into a corresponding datapoint inaccordance with the different colorspace model. This may involveconverting the datapoint's value(s)—which are in one domain—intocorresponding value(s) for the corresponding datapoint. As example, thecolorspace transform may convert an RGB pixel having a tuple of RGBvalues into a LAB pixel having a tuple of LAB values, an RGB pixelhaving a tuple of RGB values into an XYZ pixel having a tuple of XYZvalues, and/or an RGB pixel having a tuple of RGB values into an XYZpixel having a tuple of XYZ values and again into another XYZ pixelhaving a tuple of other XYZ values. The pixels associated with the finalconversion can define an encoded scheme pursuant to a colordistribution, where the encoded scheme may be a scannable image, such asimage data printed on paper (or any other suitable physical medium) andcorresponding to encoded multimedia data.

The recognition component 422-4, such as a suitable scanner, printerand/or camera or application for the same, may be generally arranged toexecute an edge detection technique as part of a recognition operationon the transformed image. One example of a well-known recognitionoperation is Optical Character Recognition (OCR), although any suitablerecognition technique may be used. The application 420 invokes therecognition component 422-4 to perform various tasks including scanningan encoded scheme corresponding to multimedia data and decoding it. Therecognition component 422-4 can be configured to contain a key, e.g. amathematical equation or equations with specified inputs defining acolorspace conversion, such that it scans relevant colors reflected by aprinted scheme of encoded data, e.g. encoded multimedia data, where thecolors are based on one or more colorspace transformation techniques asoutlined herein, where the key defines a final transformation thatdefines color-channels and a colorspace associated with colors of thescannable image, where color-channels defined by the key each representat least one bit of encoded data, and where the key can be used toperform the decoding when a scan takes place.

In various embodiments, the recognition component 422-4 can print orprovide a schema for printing an image, e.g. image data constituting anencoded representation of multimedia data, that contains one or morenon-black and non-white colors and one or both of an ultraviolet layerand an infrared layer. The color-channels associated with each non-blackand non-white color each can constitute at least one bit of data, andeach one of the infrared and ultraviolet layers can each constitute onebit of data. In various embodiments, each one of the non-black andnon-white colors are generated by a colorspace transformation mechanismor technique and are scannable by a key associated with thetransformation mechanism. In various embodiments, the number ofcolor-channels can be adjusted to be greater than or equal to fourcolor-channels, as the recognition component 422-4 can be adjusted toscan any number of colors, including colors not perceptible to the humaneye.

In various embodiments, the non-black and non-white color-channel can beused in conjunction with one or both of the infrared or ultravioletlayers on a scannable image, where each of one of the color-channels,ultraviolet layer(s), and/or infrared layer(s) represent a bit of dataand a different manner of encoding data into the image, and as such,eight or more bits of data can be encoded into the image. In variousembodiments, the ultraviolet layer may be printed or displayed first inrelation to the infrared layers and the various layers associated withnon-black and non-white color-channels to take advantage of theultraviolet layer's properties.

In various embodiments, the image containing all or one of the layersassociated with the non-black and non-white color-channel layers, theultraviolet layers, and the infrared layers can be scanned by therecognition component 422-4 for a verification component, where therecognition component 422-4 may contain or receive a key that is basedon an equation related to a colorspace conversion, e.g. Equation 1,where the colorspace conversion reveals the relevant color-channels withassociated colors containing the information, in addition to one or moreverification bits indicating whether the presence or absence of anultraviolet and/or infrared layer is indicative of encoded information.Accordingly, the key and/or verification bit provides a manner ofdecoding information.

In various embodiments, application 420 is configured to contain the keyand/or verification bit and provide an output 430 once the scan of theimage is verified locally. In various embodiments, the recognitioncomponent 422-4 can require an additional verification step ofcontacting a host system that contains one or more of thefunctionalities of system 100, to confirm, e.g., by one or morecomparison steps, that the key and/or verification bit used by therecognition component 422-4 is accurate. If the key is accurate, and thescan is confirmed by the recognition component 422-4, then the output430 of application 420 is one or more access, transfer, or receipt ofinformation, including currency, personal, and/or financial information,to another entity.

Included herein is a set of flow charts representative of exemplarymethodologies for performing novel aspects of the disclosedarchitecture. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the oneor more methodologies shown herein, for example, in the form of a flowchart or flow diagram, are shown and described as a series of acts, itis to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are notlimited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith,occur in a different order and/or concurrently with other acts from thatshown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art mayunderstand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively berepresented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in astate diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustrated in a methodology maybe required for a novel implementation.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 500. The logic flow500 may be representative of some or all of the operations executed byone or more embodiments described herein.

In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the logic flow 500receives a multimedia dataset, such as video data, audio data, imagedata, spatial data (which can create three-dimensional renderings) orany other suitable data 502. For example, the logic flow 500 may receivea representative dataset directly from any suitable system or computerdevice and/or the logic flow may use any suitable camera or scanningdevice to obtain the data as provided for herein or as otherwise may besuitable.

The logic flow 500 may compress the multimedia dataset using anysuitable compression technique 504 prior to performing any additionaloperations for the purpose of conserving computing resources and byextension maximizing the efficiency of any subsequent operations. Anysuitable compression technique can be used, including but not limited toa suitable compression per an MPEG® scheme (such as H.264), VPEG®scheme, or any other suitable scheme can be used.

The logic flow 500 may encode the compressed data pursuant to acolorspace model 506. Any suitable series of colorspace conversion andencoding techniques as discussed herein may be used to encode themultimedia data pursuant to a colorspace scheme, including determiningan optimal colorspace suitable for scanning the encoded multimedia datain relation to the environment where the scan will take place, andascribing one or more color-channels as indicative of a bit of data,e.g. six or eight color-channels, in association with the optimalcolorspace, where the mathematical definition of the colorspaceconstitute the encoding key for the multimedia data. In variousembodiments, the encoding scheme may include one or all of anultraviolet layer indicative of a bit of multimedia data, an infraredlayer indicative of a bit of multimedia data, and/or a luminance channelor layer indicative of tangential data, such as metadata, pageorientation information, and/or a parity check (Hamming Code).

In various embodiment, one or more pixels associated with the encodedscheme may be represented by a color-channel of a final colorspace basedon one or more colorspace conversions, e.g. the XYZ colorspace withcolor-channels representing the least prevalent or absent colors of theenvironment where a scan of the encoded scheme may take place, whereeach color-channel represents a bit of data, and where the number ofcolor-channels can be three or more, four or more, six or more, eight ormore, etc. (as there are no limitations imposed by humanperceptibility), and by extension the number of encoded bits can bethree or more, four or more, six or more, eight or more, etc.

In various embodiments, where four or more colors are used, each one ofthe four or more colors are distinct colors in relation to one another,and based on the colorspace techniques discussed herein and above, thefour or more colors are derived from a plurality of coordinatescorresponding to each one of the at least four distinct colors along aconverted-to(derivative) colorspace, where the converted-to (derivative)colorspace contains a plurality of coordinates sets representing the atleast four prevalent colors of the environment where a scan may takeplace, and each of the four or more colors corresponds to a distinctcoordinate set of the converted-to (derivative) colorspace.

In various embodiments, each of the four or more distinct colors areselected based on having a maximal opposite coordinate relationship withrespect to at least one of the plurality of coordinate sets representingat least four prevalent colors associated with the environment where ascan may take place.

The logic flow 500 may instruct any suitable printing device, such asprinting device 199, to print the encoded scheme on a suitable medium508, such as a physical page, a piece of paper, physical tape, or anyother suitable medium. The printing may be any suitable printingtechnique, including utilizing high resolution 4 k techniques and anysuitable inks required for printing images pursuant to such a scheme.The logic flow 500A may instruct the suitable printing device to providefor at least 6-color-channels that may contain one bit of encoded dataeach, and one or more dummy color-channels with no data, in addition toan ultraviolet layer and an infrared layer, where each may contain a bitof data. In various embodiments, additional color-channels may be usedto increase the amount of encoded data.

In various embodiments, the printing device may employ a chromabitcolumn wise technique to print the encoded multimedia data on thephysical medium, e.g. up to down, right, up to down, etc. In variousembodiments, if tangential luminance information is not a standard A4piece of paper and a standard 600 DPI printer are used, 4,960 pixels by7,016 pixels may be printed on a piece of paper, where 4 pixels mayrepresent a byte of data (2 by 2 dots), such that 4,960 by 7,016 pixelsby 2 bytes corresponds to approximately 69,598, 720 bytes of data orapproximately 69.6 mega-bytes (e.g. approximately sixty-nine mega-bytes)of encoded data on a single page (per sheet side, or 139.2 mega-bytesfor double-sided pages), where the printed data may be scanned anddetected as discussed herein or otherwise suitable.

In various embodiments, in addition to color-channels encodinginformation, a bit of information can be encoded in ultraviolet and/orinfrared layers that are printed using ink with ultraviolet and/orinfrared properties, such that at least six bits of data are associatedwith one or more distinct and different color-channels, and one bit ofdata corresponds to an ultraviolet layer and one bit of data correspondsto an infrared layer; where in at least one embodiment the printer willprint the encoded scheme such that the top layer is the ultravioletlayer in order to fully take advantage of the properties associated withultraviolet light.

In various embodiments, a portion of the printed material of the pagecan be directed to a luminance channel to encode tangential information,where the luminance channel portion may be associated with a largeramount of data and area on the page than any of the individualcolor-channels, ultraviolet channels, and/or infrared channels. Invarious embodiments, the printed scheme may be such that 16.9 mega-bytesof data re directed to the luminance channel, which may representmetadata, parity check information (such as a Hamming Code), pageorientation information, and/or other data tangential to the encodedmultimedia data, and the encoded multimedia data may representapproximately 50 mega-bytes of data on the page.

Accordingly, in various embodiments where the multimedia data is encodeddata and compressed pursuant to an H.264 scheme, such that eight secondsof video data on a page at a 1280*720 at 24 fps video rate could berepresented by 416 pages, or 208 pieces of paper that are double sided.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 600. The logic flow600 may be representative of some or all of the operations executed byone or more embodiments described herein.

The logic flow 600 may instruct a suitable scanner, e.g. scanning device197, to scan the printed scheme (as contained on any suitable medium,such as a piece of paper) containing encoded multimedia data (e.g. videodata, audio data, image data, spatial data (which can createthree-dimensional renderings), etc.) 615, where the encoded multimediadata may have been compressed prior to encoding and where the encodingis pursuant to a colorspace. Any suitable edge detection and/or scanningtechnique as discussed herein may or otherwise suitable may be used tocarry out the scan.

The logic flow may instruct the suitable scanner, e.g. scanning device197, and/or a suitable computer system, such as the system illustratedin FIG. 10f which the scanning device 197 is a part thereof, to decodethe compressed encoded multimedia data 620. In various embodiments, thescanning device 197 and/or associated computer system in communicationtherewith, may have a suitable key, e.g., tristimulus equationsassociated with a conversion to an XYZ colorspace, that reveals thecolor-channels with associated colors that are associated with thescannable portions of the encoded scheme that contains information.

In various embodiments, the printed scheme may include four, six, oreight or more distinct colors each associated with at least four, six,or eight distinct color-channels, where each of the colors is differentfrom one another and different from the most prevalent colors of theenvironment where a scan of the encoded scheme may take place. Invarious embodiments, the scanning device 197 may be configured todetermine a color value of a color associated with color-channelsdefining the colorspace containing the encoded multimedia scheme, and ifit meets a certain threshold, a bit value of the associatedcolor-channel may be either a “1” or a “0.” In various embodiments, thescanner may be configured with a verification instruction that anultraviolet layer and/or infrared layer contains encoded information,and if ultraviolet and/or infrared light is reflected at a thresholdlevel, then a bit value of “1” may be ascribed to either one or both ofthe ultraviolet and/or infrared channels, and if there the infraredand/or ultraviolet light reflects at a threshold below the thresholdlevel, e.g. in the instance where no ultraviolet and/or infrared ink isused at all and this is intended to convey information, a “0” will beascribed to that channel of information. In various embodiments, thismay result in six bits of data associated with distinct and differentcolor-channels and one bit of data associated with an infrared layerand/or ultraviolet layer, for a total of eight pits of data for adefined area on the physical page. Irrespective of the number ofcolor-channels and/or infrared and/or ultraviolet layers, the scanningdevice 197 (in conjunction with a suitable computing device) may decodethe information associated therewith, as outlined herein, and apply anysuitable decompression technique corresponding to the compressiontechnique (if applicable) used to compress the multimedia data prior toencoding, in order to obtain multimedia data encoded by the printedscheme.

In various embodiments, the logic flow 600 may instruct a decoding ofluminance channel information associated with the physical mediumcontaining the encoded multimedia data, where the luminance channelinformation may contain data tangential to the encode multimedia data,such as metadata, page orientation information, and/or a parity checkfunction (Hamming Code). Any one of these pieces of information may bedecoded prior, concurrent with, or after the decoding of the multimediadata, in order to ensure that the decoded multimedia information isproperly processed and/or correct. For example, seven informationchannels of one or of color-channels, an ultraviolet channel, and/or aninfrared layer may correspond to encoded multimedia information, and aneight bit may correspond to an odd parity check scheme, e.g. a HammingCode, where a certain threshold of brightness may correspond to onevalue for the parity bit, e.g. “1,” and below that threshold maycorrespond to another value, e.g. “0,” where the parity bit may be usedin any suitable manner to ensure the veracity and accuracy of thedecoded information.

FIG. 7 illustrates a computer, laptop or tablet system 700 forgenerating and scanning a scannable image 740. The system 700 mayinclude a computer device 731 that may be instructed by a user 730 tocarry out one or more operations. The computer device 731 may includeone or more of the components of the system as illustrated in FIG. 1and/or it may contain one or more of the functions of the application asillustrated in FIG. 4 and/or it may implement one or more of theoperations associated with either one or both of logic flow 500 andlogic flow 600. In various embodiments, the computer device 731 maycontain datasets 735, which may include one or more of image datasets,e.g. 172, and/or multimedia datasets data (e.g. video data, audio data,image data, spatial data (which can create three-dimensionalrenderings), etc.), e.g. 170. In various embodiments, the computerdevice 731 may perform one or more colorspace conversion and encodingtechniques on the multimedia data associated with datasets 735, asdiscussed herein or otherwise suitable, and prepare an image schemerepresenting the encoded multimedia data based on the colorspaceconversion and encoding techniques, where the encoding may includecompressing the multimedia data for storage enhancement purposes priorto employing a colorspace encoding scheme.

Alternatively, the image data associated with the encoded multimediadata, e.g. patched image data 172, may be preloaded and part of datasets735. In various embodiments, the computing device may instruct theprinting device 740 to print the encoded multimedia scheme on one ormore physical medium, e.g. paper pages 760 and where the printed schememay include one or more color-channel layers, infrared layers, and/orultraviolet layers contained multimedia data, and/or a luminance channellayer with encoded tangential information, such as metadata, pageorientation information, or a parity check (Hamming code). In variousembodiments, printing device 740 may be configured to contain and/orexecute any applications and/or suitable operations associated with thecomputing device 73, including any relevant colorspace and encodingtechniques, and in lieu of being associated or coordinating with anothercomputer device, e.g. 731.

FIG. 8 illustrates a scanning system 800 for scanning the printed pagesassociated with FIG. 7. The system 800 may include a computer device 731that may be instructed by a user 730 to carry out one or moreoperations. The computer device 731 may include one or more of thecomponents of the system as illustrated in FIG. 1 and/or it may containone or more of the functions of the application as illustrated in FIG. 4and/or it may implement one or more of the operations associated witheither one or both of logic flow 500 and logic flow 600. In variousembodiments, the computer device 731 may contain datasets 735, which mayinclude one or more of image datasets, e.g. 172, and/or multimediadatasets data (e.g. video data, audio data, image data, spatial data(which can create three-dimensional renderings), etc.), e.g. 170. Invarious embodiments, the computer device 731 may instruct scanningdevice c850 to scan one or more printed pages 760 using any suitablescanning technique, including any suitable edge detection technique asdiscussed herein. The scanning device may provide the scannedinformation to the computer device 730, where the computer device maydecode the image data obtained from the one or more pages 760 using anysuitable decoding technique as discussed herein, and where the printedscheme may include one or more color-channel layers, infrared layers,and/or ultraviolet layers contained multimedia data, and/or a luminancechannel layer with encoded tangential information, such as metadata,page orientation information, or a parity check (Hamming code). Invarious embodiments, the decoding may include any decompressiontechniques required to decompress the multimedia data, if it wascompressed prior to encoding, and where the decoding and decompressionwill result in access to the multimedia data. Alternatively, the encodedmultimedia data may be preloaded and part of datasets 735. In variousembodiments, scanning device c850 may be configured to contain and/orexecute any applications and/or suitable operations associated with thecomputer device 730, including any relevant decoding operations, in lieuof being associated or coordinating with another computer device, e.g.731.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of an exemplary computing architecture900 suitable for implementing various embodiments as previouslydescribed. In one embodiment, the computing architecture 900 maycomprise or be implemented as part of an electronic device. Examples ofan electronic device may include those described with reference to FIG.3, among others. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used in this application, the terms “system” and “component” areintended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, acombination of hardware and software, software, or software inexecution, examples of which are provided by the exemplary computingarchitecture 900. For example, a component can be, but is not limited tobeing, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive,multiple storage drives (of optical and/or magnetic storage medium), anobject, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or acomputer. By way of illustration, both an application running on aserver and the server can be a component. One or more components canreside within a process and/or thread of execution, and a component canbe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. Further, components may be communicatively coupled to eachother by various types of communications media to coordinate operations.The coordination may involve the uni-directional or bi-directionalexchange of information. For instance, the components may communicateinformation in the form of signals communicated over the communicationsmedia. The information can be implemented as signals allocated tovarious signal lines. In such allocations, each message is a signal.Further embodiments, however, may alternatively employ data messages.Such data messages may be sent across various connections. Exemplaryconnections include parallel interfaces, serial interfaces, and businterfaces.

The computing architecture 900 includes various common computingelements, such as one or more processors, multi-core processors,co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals,interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards,multimedia input/output (I/O) components, power supplies, and so forth.The embodiments, however, are not limited to implementation by thecomputing architecture 900.

As shown in FIG. 9, the computing architecture 900 comprises aprocessing unit 904, a system memory 906 and a system bus 908. Theprocessing unit 904 can be any of various commercially availableprocessors, including without limitation an AMD® Athlon®, Duron® andOpteron® processors; ARM® application, embedded and secure processors;IBM® and Motorola® DragonBall® and PowerPC® processors; IBM and Sony®Cell processors; Intel® Celeron®, Core (2) Duo®, Itanium®, Pentium®,Xeon®, and XScale® processors; and similar processors. Dualmicroprocessors, multi-core processors, and other multi-processorarchitectures may also be employed as the processing unit 904.

The system bus 908 provides an interface for system componentsincluding, but not limited to, the system memory 906 to the processingunit 904. The system bus 908 can be any of several types of busstructure that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or withouta memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of avariety of commercially available bus architectures. Interface adaptersmay connect to the system bus 908 via a slot architecture. Example slotarchitectures may include without limitation Accelerated Graphics Port(AGP), Card Bus, (Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA),Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (Extended) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer MemoryCard International Association (PCMCIA), and the like.

The computing architecture 900 may comprise or implement variousarticles of manufacture. An article of manufacture may comprise acomputer-readable storage medium to store logic. Examples of acomputer-readable storage medium may include any tangible media capableof storing electronic data, including volatile memory or non-volatilememory, removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasablememory, writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. Examples oflogic may include executable computer program instructions implementedusing any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code,interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code,object-oriented code, visual code, and the like. Embodiments may also beat least partly implemented as instructions contained in or on anon-transitory computer-readable medium, which may be read and executedby one or more processors to enable performance of the operationsdescribed herein.

The system memory 906 may include various types of computer-readablestorage media in the form of one or more higher speed memory units, suchas read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM(DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), staticRAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymermemory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase changeor ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as RedundantArray of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices(e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type ofstorage media suitable for storing information. In the illustratedembodiment shown in FIG. 9, the system memory 906 can includenon-volatile memory 910 and/or volatile memory 912. A basic input/outputsystem (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile memory 910.

The computer 902 may include various types of computer-readable storagemedia in the form of one or more lower speed memory units, including aninternal (or external) hard disk drive (HDD) 914, a magnetic floppy diskdrive (FDD) 916 to read from or write to a removable magnetic disk 918,and an optical disk drive 920 to read from or write to a removableoptical disk 922 (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD). The HDD 914, FDD 916 andoptical disk drive 920 can be connected to the system bus 908 by an HDDinterface 924, an FDD interface 926 and an optical drive interface 928,respectively. The HDD interface 924 for external drive implementationscan include at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE1394 interface technologies.

The drives and associated computer-readable media provide volatileand/or nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For example, a number of program modules canbe stored in the drives and memory units 910, 912, including anoperating system 930, one or more application programs 932, otherprogram modules 934, and program data 936. In one embodiment, the one ormore application programs 932, other program modules 934, and programdata 936 can include, for example, the various applications and/orcomponents of the system 100.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 902 throughone or more wire/wireless input devices, for example, a keyboard 938 anda pointing device, such as a mouse 940. Other input devices may includemicrophones, infra-red (IR) remote controls, radio-frequency (RF) remotecontrols, game pads, stylus pens, card readers, dongles, finger printreaders, gloves, graphics tablets, joysticks, keyboards, retina readers,touch screens (e.g., capacitive, resistive, etc.), trackballs,trackpads, sensors, styluses, and the like. These and other inputdevices are often connected to the processing unit 904 through an inputdevice interface 942 that is coupled to the system bus 908 but can beconnected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 1394 serialport, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, and so forth.

A monitor 944 or other type of display device is also connected to thesystem bus 908 via an interface, such as a video adaptor 946. Themonitor 944 may be internal or external to the computer 902. In additionto the monitor 944, a computer typically includes other peripheraloutput devices, such as speakers, printers, and so forth.

The computer 902 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wire and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer 948. The remote computer 948can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personal computer,portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peerdevice or other common network node, and typically includes many or allof the elements described relative to the computer 902, although, forpurposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device 950 is illustrated.The logical connections depicted include wire/wireless connectivity to alocal area network (LAN) 952 and/or larger networks, for example, a widearea network (WAN) 954. Such LAN and WAN networking environments arecommonplace in offices and companies, and facilitate enterprise-widecomputer networks, such as intranets, all of which may connect to aglobal communications network, for example, the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 902 is connectedto the LAN 952 through a wire and/or wireless communication networkinterface or adaptor 956. The adaptor 956 can facilitate wire and/orwireless communications to the LAN 952, which may also include awireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless functionality of the adaptor 956.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 902 can includea modem 958, or is connected to a communications server on the WAN 954or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN 954,such as by way of the Internet. The modem 958, which can be internal orexternal and a wire and/or wireless device, connects to the system bus908 via the input device interface 942. In a networked environment,program modules depicted relative to the computer 902, or portionsthereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device 950. It maybe appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary andother means of establishing a communications link between the computerscan be used.

The computer 902 is operable to communicate with wire and wirelessdevices or entities using the IEEE 802 family of standards, such aswireless devices operatively disposed in wireless communication (e.g.,IEEE 802.11 over-the-air modulation techniques). This includes at leastWi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity), WiMax, and Bluetooth™ wirelesstechnologies, among others. Thus, the communication can be a predefinedstructure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoccommunication between at least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.11x (a, b, g, n, etc.) to provide secure,reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used toconnect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks(which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary communicationsarchitecture 1000 suitable for implementing various embodiments aspreviously described. The communications architecture 1000 includesvarious common communications elements, such as a transmitter, receiver,transceiver, radio, network interface, baseband processor, antenna,amplifiers, filters, power supplies, and so forth. The embodiments,however, are not limited to implementation by the communicationsarchitecture 1000.

As shown in FIG. 10, the communications architecture 1000 comprisesincludes one or more clients 1002 and servers 1004. The clients 1002 mayimplement the client device 310. The servers 1004 may implement theserver device 950. The clients 1002 and the servers 1004 are operativelyconnected to one or more respective client data stores 1008 and serverdata stores 1010 that can be employed to store information local to therespective clients 1002 and servers 1004, such as cookies and/orassociated contextual information.

The clients 1002 and the servers 1004 may communicate informationbetween each other using a communication framework 1006. Thecommunications framework 1006 may implement any well-knowncommunications techniques and protocols. The communications framework1006 may be implemented as a packet-switched network (e.g., publicnetworks such as the Internet, private networks such as an enterpriseintranet, and so forth), a circuit-switched network (e.g., the publicswitched telephone network), or a combination of a packet-switchednetwork and a circuit-switched network (with suitable gateways andtranslators).

The communications framework 1006 may implement various networkinterfaces arranged to accept, communicate, and connect to acommunications network. A network interface may be regarded as aspecialized form of an input output interface. Network interfaces mayemploy connection protocols including without limitation direct connect,Ethernet (e.g., thick, thin, twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T, and thelike), token ring, wireless network interfaces, cellular networkinterfaces, IEEE 802.11a-x network interfaces, IEEE 802.16 networkinterfaces, IEEE 802.20 network interfaces, and the like. Further,multiple network interfaces may be used to engage with variouscommunications network types. For example, multiple network interfacesmay be employed to allow for the communication over broadcast,multicast, and unicast networks. Should processing requirements dictatea greater amount speed and capacity, distributed network controllerarchitectures may similarly be employed to pool, load balance, andotherwise increase the communicative bandwidth required by clients 1002and the servers 1004. A communications network may be any one and thecombination of wired and/or wireless networks including withoutlimitation a direct interconnection, a secured custom connection, aprivate network (e.g., an enterprise intranet), a public network (e.g.,the Internet), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Local Area Network(LAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), an Operating Missions as Nodeson the Internet (OMNI), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless network, acellular network, and other communications networks.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “one embodiment”or “an embodiment” along with their derivatives. These terms mean that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Theappearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.Further, some embodiments may be described using the expression“coupled” and “connected” along with their derivatives. These terms arenot necessarily intended as synonyms for each other. For example, someembodiments may be described using the terms “connected” and/or“coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physicalor electrical contact with each other. The term “coupled,” however, mayalso mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with eachother, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided toallow a reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technicaldisclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it may not beused to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen thatvarious features are grouped together in a single embodiment for thepurpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is notto be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimedembodiments require more features than are expressly recited in eachclaim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matterlies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus,the following claims are hereby incorporated into the DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separateembodiment. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which”are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms“comprising” and “wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,”“second,” “third,” and so forth, are used merely as labels, and are notintended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

What has been described above includes examples of the disclosedarchitecture. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components and/or methodologies, but one ofordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinationsand permutations are possible. Accordingly, the novel architecture isintended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variationsthat fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

1. An apparatus, comprising: a memory to store instructions; processingcircuitry, coupled with the memory, operable to execute theinstructions, that when executed, cause the processing circuitry to:compress a multimedia dataset into a compressed data-packet; encode thecompressed data-packet according to a scheme that includes a colorspaceassociated with a plurality of colors, where each of the plurality ofcolors is associated with one or more color-channels, wherein theencoding is suitable for printing on a physical medium, wherein thecompressed data-packet is represented by each of the plurality ofcolors, wherein the scheme includes an error-correcting code (ECC), andwherein the scheme includes at least one of an ultraviolet channel or aninfrared channel; and instruct a printing device to print the encodeddata on the physical medium, wherein each of the plurality of colorsrepresenting the compressed data-packet is printed on the physicalmedium.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least oneof i) at least one of the one or more color-channels, ii) the infraredchannel, or iii) the ultraviolet channel represents the ECC.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3, wherein the multimedia data includes at least oneof i) one or more text data, ii) one or more picture data, or iii) oneor more video data, wherein the encoding of the compressed data-packetsuch that is suitable for printing one on one or more physical pages,wherein the physical medium includes the one or more physical pages, andwherein the plurality of colors representing the compressed data-packetare represented as a plurality of pixels on the one or more physicalpages.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein at least a portion of thecompressed data-packet is represented by at least one of i) an infraredchannel or ii) an ultraviolet channel, wherein the at least one of i)the infrared channel or ii) the ultraviolet channel is represented by aportion of the plurality of pixels, and wherein the portion of theplurality of pixels associated with the at least one of i) the infraredchannel or ii) the ultraviolet channel is printed with an ink that canreflect or absorb one or both of i) infrared light and ii) ultravioletlight.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more physicalpages are one or more pieces of paper.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6,wherein the processing circuitry is further caused to: instruct ascanner to scan the one or more pieces of paper; and decode thecompressed data-packet from the one or more pieces of paper.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein the decoding is based on the colorspace.9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein each of the plurality ofcolor-channels is associated with at least one distinct color inrelation to one another, and wherein each of the at least one distinctcolors of the plurality of color-channels is used to represent at leastone bit of data of the encoded data-packet.
 10. The apparatus of claim9, wherein the portion of the plurality of pixels is represented by bothof the infrared channel and the ultraviolet channel.
 11. The apparatusof claim 10, wherein the ECC is a Hamming code.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the Hamming code is represented by either one or bothof i) the infrared channel and ii) the ultraviolet channel, and whereineach one of the one or more pieces of paper contains at least fiftymega-bytes of data in addition to data representing the error correctingcode.
 13. A method comprising: scanning one or more physical pagescontaining compressed data, wherein the compressed data is encoded onthe one or more physical pages pursuant to a colorspace, wherein thecolorspace is associated with a plurality of color-channels, whereineach one of the plurality of color-channels is associated with at leastone color, wherein the compressed data represents a multimedia dataset,and wherein at least a portion of the compressed data is represented byat least one of an infrared channel or an ultraviolet channel; anddecoding the compressed data pursuant to the colorspace.
 14. The methodof claim 13, wherein the multimedia set represents at least one of i)one or more text data, ii) one or more picture data, and iii) one ormore video data, wherein the one or more physical pages are one or morepieces of paper, wherein the compressed data is represented as aplurality of pixels on the one or more pieces of paper, and wherein eachof the plurality of pixels is represented by at least one color fromeach of the plurality of color-channels.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein the one or more pieces of paper each contain at least sixty-ninemega-bytes of readable data.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein thecolorspace contains at least six color-channels, wherein each of the sixcolor-channels is associated with at least one distinct color inrelation to one another, wherein each of the at least one distinctcolors of the six color-channels is used to represent at least one bitof data of the compressed data, wherein at least one of i) the infraredchannel and ii) the ultraviolet channel represents an error correctingcode, wherein the error correcting code comprises a Hamming code. 17.The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one of i) the infraredchannel and ii) the ultraviolet channel is represented by a portion ofthe plurality of pixels, and wherein the portion of the plurality ofpixels associated with the at least one of i) the infrared channel andii) the ultraviolet channel is printed with an ink that can reflect orabsorb one or both of i) infrared light and ii) ultraviolet light. 18.(canceled)
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the method furthercomprises: scanning the infrared channel and the ultraviolet channel;and performing a parity check to detect an error associated with thedecoding of the compressed data, wherein the parity check is based onthe scanning of the infrared channel and the ultraviolet channel.
 20. Anarticle of manufacture comprising: a sheet of paper; a plurality ofcolors printed on the sheet of paper and based on a colorspace with sixor more color-channels, each of the six or more color-channelscontaining at least one distinct color in relation to one another, andwherein each one of the at least one distinct colors is represented inthe plurality of colors; and at least one of an ultraviolet channel andan infrared channel represented and detectable by a pattern of ink onthe sheet of paper, wherein the pattern of ink can absorb or reflect atleast one ultraviolet light and infrared light, wherein each one of theplurality of colors represents at least one bit of data of a compresseddata-packet, wherein the compressed data-packet represents a multimediadataset, wherein the at least one of the ultraviolet channel and theinfrared channel represents an error correcting code in relation to thecompressed data-packet, and wherein the sheet of paper contains at leastone parity bit.